Japan is adding Panama and Brazil to its working holiday system through two separate amendments to the Designated Activities notice, the first taking effect on 1 November 2026 and the second on 1 December 2026. The Immigration Services Agency put both drafts out for public comment on 24 August 2026, the comment periods closed on 23 September 2026, and neither country has yet appeared on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of working holiday partners.
The two amendments
Both change the same instrument: the notice issued under Article 7(1)(ii) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that defines the activities in the lower column of Appended Table I(5) of the Act, which is the Designated Activities status of residence. The working holiday system sits inside that notice, and adding a partner country means amending it.
The Panama amendment follows an exchange of notes between the two governments on 13 August 2026. It is promulgated on 30 October 2026 and takes effect on 1 November 2026.
The Brazil amendment follows an exchange of notes on 24 July 2026. It is promulgated and takes effect on the same day, 1 December 2026.
Both summaries describe the same activity: an extended holiday in Japan to experience Japanese culture and everyday life, with paid work permitted only to the extent needed to supplement travel funds. Both exclude work at businesses regulated under the Entertainment Business Act.
The published partner list still says 32
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs page on the working holiday system lists 32 countries and regions, stated as of 1 April 2026. Neither Panama nor Brazil is on it. Once the two amendments are in force the count becomes 34.
A notice taking effect means the status exists in law from that date. It is not an announcement that applications open that morning, and the ministry page is where a new partner's operating conditions appear.
If you are a Panamanian or Brazilian national applying from outside Japan
The visa is obtained abroad. The ministry's guidance is that "the application for the visa must be made to Japan Embassy or Consulate-General in your country/region", not at an immigration counter in Japan.
Conditions are set partner by partner and are not uniform. The general age range is 18 to 30 at the time of visa application, though for Australia, Canada, South Korea and Ireland the published range is 18 to 25 unless both governments agree to extend it. Annual caps also vary: several partners have no limit, others are capped, and the cap can differ by direction of travel. The ministry states plainly that the requirements may vary depending on the applicant's nationality.
None of that detail has been published for Panama or Brazil: no age range, no annual quota, no document list. Until the ministry posts it there is nothing concrete to prepare, and the effective dates are not a basis for booking anything. Watch the ministry's working holiday page and your nearest Japanese mission. Background on how the status works sits on our working holiday visa page.
If you live in Japan and hold a residence card
Neither amendment touches your status, your renewal, or your re-entry. Nothing in either draft alters an existing status, adds a condition at extension, or changes anything at the border.
For Brazilian nationals already living in Japan, a long-established community built largely on descent-based Long-Term Resident and Permanent Resident status, the new category offers nothing useful. It is a short, holiday-purpose status with incidental work rights, narrower in every respect than what those residents already hold.
One question the documents do not answer: whether someone already in Japan on another status can change into the new working holiday category from inside the country. Neither draft notice nor either summary addresses an in-country change of status, and the ministry's own guidance points applicants to a mission abroad. If you are here on a student, work or dependent status and interested in the route, treat the in-country application as unestablished and ask your regional immigration bureau before assuming a counter will accept it.
What happens next
The Panama notice is promulgated on 30 October 2026, two days before it takes effect on 1 November 2026. The Brazil notice is promulgated and effective together on 1 December 2026.
The operating detail, meaning ages, caps and paperwork, comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rather than the Immigration Services Agency. Its working holiday page is the one to check from 1 November 2026.
Sources: e-Gov public comment case 315000143 (Panama), e-Gov public comment case 315000144 (Brazil), Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Working Holiday Programmes, Ministry of Justice — Designated Activities notice